Gene Garza Named Acting Director, Field Operations, Leticia Moran Retires; Joe Uribe Named Acting Port Director
Written by admin, Jan 10, 2011, 0 Comments
Courtesy Richard Pauza,
LAREDO, TEXAS – U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that Gene Garza will serve as Acting Director, Field Operations for Laredo Field Office and Joe Uribe will serve as Acting Port Director, Laredo Port of Entry. The changes in leadership follow the retirement of Director, Field Operations Leticia Moran on Dec. 31 after more than 31 years of federal service. As Acting Director, Field Operations for Laredo Field Office, Garza oversees the operations of eight ports of entry extending from Brownsville to Del Rio , Texas . The eight ports of entry combined process approximately 2.4 million commercial trucks, 21.3 million privately-owned vehicles, 59.5 million passengers and pedestrians and 74,540 commercial buses on an annual basis.
Garza has previously served as the Port Director for Laredo Port of Entry since 1998 and he brings 39 years of federal service to the position. He has served in stints as the Acting DFO, El Paso Field Office, Acting National Director of Canine Programs and Chief Canine Officer, Laredo Field Office. Garza also served as a military policeman with the U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia from 1971-1975.
Garza has worked closely with the international trade community for three decades and participated in major cargo redesign programs, including the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) program. He earned the “Hammer Award” from Vice President Al Gore for his work in modernizing the Automated Export System (AES).
As Acting Port Director for Laredo , Uribe will oversee the day-to-day operations of CBP officers, agricultural specialists and entry specialists working at four international bridges, a rail bridge and an international airport as well as import specialists in Laredo , Pharr and Los Indios. CBP in Laredo processes the largest amount of commercial traffic on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Uribe has previously served as Assistant Port Director for Trade Operations since 2005 and brings 33 years of federal service to the position. Uribe previously served as Chief Agricultural Specialist in Laredo and served as Port Director for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Moran retired from CBP on Dec., 31, 2010 after serving the federal government for more than 31 years. Prior to serving as DFO in Laredo , she served as the Director, Field Operations in New Orleans Field Office, Port Director, New Orleans , Assistant Director, South Texas Customs Management Center and as Port Director, Laredo .
“I am looking forward to serving the South Texas area in my new role as Acting DFO and would like to reach out to our stakeholders and the international trade community in the coming weeks to listen to their concerns and advance our goals of maintaining security while facilitating lawful trade and travel,” said Gene Garza, Acting DFO, Laredo Field Office.
